DEAB Research seminar "Exploring nanofibers: Innovation and sustainability in food technology". Speaker: Michele Greque de Morais.

Michele Greque de Morais is a professor, researcher and leader of the Microbiology and Biochemistry Laboratory at Federal University of Rio Grande since 2010. Dr. Morais is a Food Engineering graduate and developed her MSc. and PhD degrees in Engineering and Food Science at the Federal University of Rio Grande. Her studies on microalgae are directed towards the conditions of cultivation and extraction, purification and application of their bioproducts in biopolymers, biofuels and biocompounds for food. In the field of nanofibers, the development of nanofibers for filter membranes, scaffolds, carbon dioxide biofixation and food applications is studied. She developed her thesis research on carbon dioxide biofixation by microalgae and obtaining biopolymers for use in the development of nanofibers. Part of her PhD was developed at Philipps-Universität Marburg, Germany. Dr. Morais undertook post-doctoral research in the microalgae field and obtained their respective bioproducts at University of California, San Diego in the United States in 2018. In 2021, she spent 7 months on a mission in Dubai for Aviation X Lab, a consortium formed by the United Arab Emirates government and which brings together five global aviation giants (Emirates, Airbus, Collins Aerospace, GE Aviation and Thales), whose project aims reduce CO2 emissions in the aviation sector through the cultivation of microalgae. Prof. Michele has published more than 140 articles in specialized journals and  has 54 published book chapters, 13 technological products and 25 patents. In 2019 and 2021, she was elected one of the most influential researchers in the world, according to the publication of the scientific journal PLOS Biology.